In the News

The May issue of Agri Marketing will feature salutes to NAMA's 2010 Ag Leaders, ag's largest agencies and an update on Market Research. For info, contact Judy Knoll at 636/728-1428 x2002; JudyK@AgriMarketing.com

presents WEEKLY COMMODITY HIGHLIGHTS

Nearby Futures	Weekly Change	Friday's Close	Year Ago
Corn	-.18 ¼	3.56 1/4	3.87
Soybeans	-.9 ¾	9.52	9.17
Wheat	-.19	4.64 ¾	5.07
Cattle	-3.95	94.02	84.32
Hogs	-3.67	69.67	60.47
Cotton	-2.49	79.69	43.34
Milk	-.03	12.78	10.46
Crude Oil	-.68	80.00	52.38

Comments: The soybean market held its ground fairly well ahead of the release of two important USDA reports Wednesday morning, but the corn and wheat markets dropped below key chart support on oversupply worries. Soybeans have been supported by continued strong disappearance, even though South America is in the process of harvesting its biggest crop ever. The pre-report planted acreage predictions for soybeans, corn and cotton are all expected to be larger than last year. The trade thinks bean acres will be up a million acres, corn 2.7 million and cotton 1.5 million acres. The March hog report contained a bullish surprise. The market hog inventory was not as large as feared and the breeding herd was pegged at 4% smaller than a year ago. There was a strong bullish reaction to the hog report by the futures market, but it will still take strong pork demand for the cash carcass market to top $80/cwt this summer. Click on the Brock logo or call 1-800-558-3431 for more info on our services.